Singapore

350 species of birds are found in an area of just 650 square kilometres making Singapore an ideal place to start learning about the fascinating birds (culture and food!) of Asia. Although highly urbanised, the excellent network of roads makes access to the major birding sites a breeze. There are hotels of all sorts to suit your pocket and no need whatsoever to rough it out in the wilds. The weather is tropical, which means it is usually warm (24-32 degrees Celsius) and sunny throughout the year except for the occasional thunderstorm.

Singapore offers good birding throughout the year but is best between August and April when the migrants, mostly from the Palearctic, are in, together with the resident birds so birding is most exciting at this time.

Imagine seeing Oriental specialities such as Red-crowned Barbet, Banded Woodpecker, Asian Fairy-bluebird, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and Crimson Sunbird sharing the same habitat as migrants from Siberia like Asian Brown Flycatcher, Arctic Warbler and Daurian Starling. And that's just the morning.

In the afternoon, take a sampan (local boat) to Ubin Island and hunt for the local attractions like Red Junglefowl, Stork-billed Kingfisher, Laced Woodpecker, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Straw-headed Bulbul, Mangrove Pitta and Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker. Enjoy the terns (Great Crested, Lesser Crested, Black-naped and White-winged) on the way back to the mainland.

Well within reach (a two hour car journey across the causeway) Panti Forest reserve in Malaysia is a great day out! Early mornings, as always, are best.

Whether you are passing through with half or one day to spare, or staying up to a week, Singapore offers the adventurous birder the chance to see, without too much hassle, some of the most exciting birds in Asia whilst letting you enjoy the culture, food and sights of the country too.

601 Slims Drive, 04-04 Pan. I Complex, Singapore 387382. + 65 741 0871; kklimsg@singnet.com.sg Night Walk at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park with the Vertebrate Study Group. A chance to watch the raptors fly pass the reservoir towardsthe forest to roost and observe bats coming out at dusk. If weather permits, enjoy all these against an enchanting backdrop of a sunset over the Central Catchment. After dark, listen out for the serenade of frogs and try to identify the species by their calls. The group size will be limited to the first 20 members replying with the All-Purpose Forms to the NSS office.

Reserves

The Bukit Batok Nature Park lies on the outskirts of one of Singapore's newest housing estates, Bukit Batok New Town. It is a small, peaceful park developed on an abandoned quarry site where the quiet visitor should be able to see some of the local wildlife which has adapted to an urban parkland environment. In the evening the park is popular with joggers…

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve now stands totally cut off from the bulk of Singapore's regenerating secondary forest by a six-lane road development. New roads are now being built to the north, completing the hill's encirclement by tarmac. An ugly communications building dominates the summit and recent, thoughtless condominium development at the park's boundary has meant an increase in recreational visitors…

The forests of South-East Asia have an evolutionary history stretching back millions of years. The history of Bukit Timah as a Nature Reserve is a little more recent than this, but still stretches back into the last century. By 1935, as a result of urbanisation, most of the reserves were exploited for timber. Only Bukit Timah Reserve was spared…

Locally, Pulau Ubin is well known for its rich diversity of resident and migratory birds. The prawn ponds and mangrove inlets are alive with kingfishers; the largest resident species is the Stork-billed Kingfisher (37 cm) which tends to inhabit the deeper tidal mangrove inlets, and the smallest the Common Kingfisher (17 cm) which can be found in the prawn ponds…

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a dynamic and living monument to the foresight of the founding fathers of Singapore. Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore and a keen naturalist, established the first botanical and experimental garden on Government Hill…

The park is an important stopover and refuelling point for migratory birds, some coming from as far as Siberia and China. It is also home to resident herons, kingfishers, doves, bee-eaters, tailorbirds, woodpeckers and munias. Patience, an eye for details and a pair of binoculars are essential for watching the birds. You will be amazed at their variety and beauty.

The migratory birds are attracted by exposed mud flats in the long-abandoned prawn ponds. Water levels in the prawn ponds are still controlled by sluice gates; the aim is to maintain some exposed mud flats at all times, even during high tide, thereby attracting waders and shorebirds. In addition to tidal systems there are a small number of freshwater ponds and patches of secondary forest which add to the reserve's biodiversity…

The Sungei Buloh Bird Sanctuary (87ha) comprises mangroves, mudfalts, fish and prawn ponds and fruit orchards. It was declared a Nature Park in 1993. A stop-over refueling station for migratory birds, Sungei Buloh serves as an important transit point for the birds as they escape the cold winters. More than 150 species of birds have been spotted…

Trip Reports

CloudBirders was created by a group of Belgian world birding enthusiasts and went live on 21st of March 2013. They provide a large and growing database of birding trip reports, complemented with extensive search, voting and statistical features.

…The tour started with some birding around Singapore and at the Central Catchment Reservoir we started off well with Short-tailed Babbler, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Banded Woodpecker, Van Hasselt’s Sunbird and loads of Pink-necked Green Pigeon. Bukit Batok did well with Straw-headed Bulbul, Common Flameback and Laced Woodpecker and a particularly obliging group of White-crested Laughingthrush….

…BC, GM & CC arrived at the very upscale Changi AP at about 6.30 a.m. and took a taxi to the equally posh Changi Village Hotel. We would be staying there the evening before our flights to Sulawesi, and the hotel kindly let us store our excess luggage whilst we were in Malaysia. Kim Seng met us there and we did a little birding outside the hotel while waiting for AQ, who arrived about an hour later…

…Within minutes the White-vented Mynah were around my feet checking to see if I had ordered any food! Two Striated Heron flew along the river a couple of times. The trees on the opposite side of the river provided Common Mynah (another common species) and Yellow-vented and Red- whiskered Bulbul…

Guides & Tour Operators

I am a licensed (by Singapore Tourism Board) nature tour guide and also hold a MSc in Environmental Management (University of Adelaide). I specialize in birds but am also conversant with other vertebrates, invertebrates and plants…

Welcome to Nature
in Singapore! This is a mailing list for people interested in nature. You may discuss anything related to nature. Butterflies, birds,
mammals, marine life, etc. Please do not send any attachments to the list as this may clog up users` mailboxes. I hope you find
interesting discussions on this list. You are most welcome to join in any discussion and/or ask questions. Please remember, however,
these are friendly discussions and there is no room for flame wars on this list. Thank you for your understanding and help to make
this list a pleasant experience. If you have any questions regarding your subscription, etc, please contact the moderator, Andrea
Hoffmann.

Mailing List – Discussion
Group - This egroup is managed by the Singapore Bird Group of the Nature Society (Singapore). All birders are welcome to join us. The
purpose of this egroup is to promote Birdwatching and Bird Conservation in Singapore and the Asian region. Subscribers are free to
post messages pertaining to news, activities, bird sighting reports, issues and announcements particularly concerning the Asian
Region. The SBG uses this facility to discuss and to disseminate current issues and activites, in return as feedback and data
collecting channel within its membership. See also: http://www.nss.org.sg/wildbirdsingapore

Blogs

Photographers & Artists

Photography is a wonderful medium but even at its best, it can only hint at what really exists. The difference between a snapshot and a work of art is that art evokes. It helps you see more and be more. Precisely what is summoned is hard to control. There is an artist in each of us that filters and colors our world. Our complex emotions mediate our senses. Our overall sense of being depends on innumerable details and distractions, but deep inside, one's religious attitude and philosophical background influence one's perceptions.

My name is Kennie Pan & I am a photographer based in Singapore. I started photography accidentally back in End 2004. Back then, I used to dance. Trying to take pictures of myself dancing with an old 3.2Megapixels Panasonic Lumix Lc-33 ( Family’s shared camera ), i was curious on the output – Blurred pictures of myself. In that Basic Camera, even the most basic functions confused me and I told myself, i have to find out what the basic functions do…

The late and great Laurence Poh - This site is a collection of bird pictures I have taken since Feb 1999 with the Nikon Coolpix 950 and Coolpix 990 digital camera in combination with a Leica Apo-Televid 77 mm spotting scope. All photos were taken by natural available light with exception of one nightjar which was lit by incandescent bulb. Most of the birds are Malaysian species with some foreign birds shot abroad. In Malaysia we have over 600 species of birds. Some are migratory birds that are seen only during the northern winter months. What I have here is just a small collection. In my own way, I am trying to promote Malaysia as a birding destination as the birds are much prettier in real life than my pictures can depict.

The Kranji area in the north of Singapore is one of the best places to enjoy nature. It is easily accessible and consists of places like Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve, Kranji Nature Trail, marshes around Kranji Dam and the Neo Tiew area where you can still find farms. While this area is a hotpot for nature where thousands of migrant waders stopover and where many resident birds reside including endangered species, it is constantly threathened by development…